


Love and Loss

by BallofYarn



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Comfort, Crying, Feels, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Sad, Short, and joey is kind of an angel, if piper and grey went to pipesflowforeverandever's studio, piper is just kind of sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 11:28:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15266514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BallofYarn/pseuds/BallofYarn
Summary: Two lost souls come together for a time of understanding and empathy.When so much death...so much pain has been on your heart, sometimes its nice to be able to talk to someone about it and gain some perspective. But when Piper goes to do so, it appears that Joey Drew might be in the same boat as her--or possibly in an even worse one.





	Love and Loss

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hymns of Struggle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12776151) by [PipesFlowForeverandEver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PipesFlowForeverandEver/pseuds/PipesFlowForeverandEver). 



> Ok so I thought it would be cool if Piper and Grey were actually trapped in pipesflowforeverandever's studio and met her version of Joey Drew, Gingie.
> 
> This one mostly focuses on Piper and Gingie but I hope to do another one focusing on Grey and Gingie. :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The ceiling creaked, barely holding onto the remainder of strength it had to suppress the overwhelming amount of ink flooding above it. It was so disturbing and anxiety-inducing, Piper seriously wondered how the 11-year old boy could sleep soundly in such an unsafe environment. She knew she couldn’t and quite frankly this was nothing new. She hadn’t been able to sleep for days now, leaning on the fear that she would drown in the dark blood of the studio, or worse, be swallowed by its inhabitants. She definitely didn’t want to take any chances. However, she let Grey sleep as he was very fortunate to be able to do so and instead left the small room for the desire to stretch her aching legs—or possibly have some time to think. After all she's been through, there was barely enough time for that.

Outside the room sat Joey, a sight so startling to her that she paused right in the middle of stepping out of the doorframe before blinking to recover her startled heart and quietly shutting the door behind her. The ginger man turned, his dark eyes reflecting the dim light of the candle that sat squarely in the center of the table. His brows raised slightly as he observed her stand somewhat awkwardly by the door, her hands fidgeting as she looked in every other direction except for the one that held the man sitting before her. A solid moment of awkward passed before his hallow voice whispered in the darkness.

“...Are you alright, my dear?”

Piper turned her gaze back to him and raised her brows, pretending like she didn’t realize his presence before she stared blankly and blinked again. An empty response.

“I...um—“

The man then suddenly gestured to the seat directly across from him with a steady hand.

“Come. Sit with me, won’t you?”

Piper obliged, awkwardly shifting her fragile frame into the seat and once again avoiding full eye contact with the man before her. He opened his jaws to speak before she interrupted, her eyes fixed in her own restless hands.

“Why are you here, Joey...?” she mumbled, catching the older man off guard. “You really...shouldn’t be here.”

Joey sat for a second, contemplating over the possible answers to this question.

“I could say the same about you, you know.” He replied softly, his hands folding to carefully interlock trembling fingers together. “You don’t deserve to...be here. With me, that is. It’s a cruel fate for someone so innocent.”

“How do you know I’m innocent...?” The young woman looked up with just her eyes, her icy blue gaze remaining frozen even as it locked on to the warm golden gaze of the man before her. “You don’t know me...for all you know, I could very well deserve this.”

The ginger man sat back, a heavy and distraught sigh escaping his lungs. Not a frustrated or angry sigh, but a hollow one that breathed out as if he remembered he needed to breathe to survive even though he very much wished he didn’t.

“I don’t, I’m afraid,” he finally admitted with a slight sad flutter of his eyelids. “But I do know that none deserve this fate but me and me alone.”

Before Piper could object, Joey released a brittle cough into his fist and cleared his throat. “My dear,” he began again. “Tell me...who are you?”

The woman blinked at the sudden question that she didn’t even know if she had the answer to anymore. Life down here seemed to blur her reality and shape her into a person she wasn’t before—a deeper sense of integrity and love she never had before. Was she still...her?

“I’m Piper Wood,” she replied quietly, as if she didn’t even know if that was true or not. “I’m 29...well probably 30 years old now and—“

“No, no, no...” Joey interrupted with a shake of his hand. Piper’s brows fell as she slowly closed her jaw out of her mid-sentence. “Not who you are, child,” he explained. “Who _are_ you?”

Piper tried to wrap her mind around what the man may have meant. Who _was_ she, exactly? She may have been known as Piper Wood all her life, but Joey’s strange phrasing made her think she was more than that—and he knew, for sure. With a trembling breath, the woman spoke from her heart this time—who she really was.

“...I’m nobody.”

This wasn’t the answer the ginger was looking for, but she said it with such heart and confidence it practically melted him. Crystal tears formed bright under Piper’s eyes, and Joey rose to his feet at the sight of them glimmering in the dim light.

“Oh my dear child...” he murmured as he stepped over to her side of the table and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. “Dry your eyes...nobody’s nobody...”

“But I am...!” She choked as the tears kept flowing. “I don’t even know who I am anymore...I’m just a mess and...just a horrible, _horrible_ human being...”

“Now, now, that is not true...”

“You...you don’t know what I’ve done—what I’ve been through...! You don’t know what it’s like to carry the weight of death on your shoulders; knowing you could have saved him—knowing he could still be alive if it wasn’t for you...! And having to carry on and live knowing you were the one who could save him but you...”

Her voice cut off from grief as she simply squeaked a syllable before she began coughing out black specks into her elbow.

“I’m sorry...” she murmured once she could catch her breath. “I just—“

Suddenly Piper shuddered and her voice halted as she felt a warm touch slip into her hand. Her puffy, red eyes glanced over to her other shoulder to see Joey’s hand empathetically grasped in hers. His gaze was soft and warm as honey and he seemed to be filled with such compassion and understanding for the young woman.

“Yes,” he said with a slight curl of his brows. “I do.”

Her lips quivered as she tried to find the words, but as she looked around, she could start to understand—he was the one who did all of this. The reason still remained quite unclear to her, but she refrained from arguing and thanked him for his comfort with a gentle squeeze of the hand.

“I know this pain better than anyone,” the man said quietly. “The hurt…the immortal sense of guilt in this old heart of mine…yes…I know it quite well. Perhaps it is too much for me to ask why you feel the way you do, but being able to do nothing is…far better than doing what I have done. I’m afraid I only made things worse in an attempt to make things better…it wasn’t just one life I took, but hundreds. And I can feel every one of those souls crying out every single waking moment of my unending life. Your loved one might be gone, Miss Piper, but believe me it is far worse than bringing them back to life in an inky well of pain such as I have created.”

Piper’s gaze remained soft, her pain for Joey beginning to flood over the previous pain she had for herself. This man was not only suffering, but he was feeling the suffering of everyone around him, all swirling together and beating, beating, _beating_ at his chest till he could barely look at himself in the mirror anymore because of the monster that stared back at him.

But the woman did not see a monster—she could only see the fragile form of a broken and scared man, his own lips quivering before he curled them back in an effort to prevent himself from breaking down as well.

“Joey I…” Piper began with soft and gentle voice. “I’m so, so sorry…”

And with that, Joey’s hand slowly slipped out of her own, the woman now once again feeling quite empty and cold. That gentle reassurance was just what she needed, but it had come and gone so soon.

That was, until, Joey carefully stepped back and slightly reached out his arms. He said nothing, but his expression said it all—he was offering her a hug.

And she accepted.

Slowly rising to her shaky feet, Piper stepped into his grasp and allowed his arms to wrap around her almost lifeless form. At first, her arms simply dangled hopelessly at her sides before she raised them up as well and returned his embrace. The woman immediately began to feel warm and hopeful again—a feeling she hadn’t felt since she stepped foot into the place. And Joey, well, who knew how he felt. But the way he held her close was enough to make Piper feel like he had been longing for a hug just as long as she has—likely even longer.

The embrace was cut off far too soon as a young voice spoke out and interrupted the meaningful moment.

“Woah, hey.”

Piper shot back, the ginger man almost being thrown off balance as she turned to stare at the kid with wide eyes. Grey lifted a finger to point back and forth at them in confusion.

“Are you two like—“

**_“No!”_ **

The sharp reply from the woman was enough to make the kid put up his hands defensively. With a sigh, Piper muttered an apology to Joey for the startle who simply waved his hand with a smile.

“Oh no worries, my dear,” he said. “I was beginning to wonder when the lad was going to wake up.”

Grey pulled a lint-covered lollipop from his hoodie and popped it into his mouth. “Name’s Grey, sir,” he said, sticking out a chubby hand. “Don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”

“That we haven’t!” The ginger said with a rosy smile as he blinked in an effort to erase evidence of his bloodshot eyes. “Joey Drew. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh we’re doing _those_ formalities,” The boy said, his pale eyebrows raising. “In that case I’m Stevens. Grey Stevens.”

As the two introduced themselves, Piper stood to the side, her lanky arms wrapped around her equally thin torso. Her gaze was glued onto the mysterious Joey Drew, and unbeknownst to her, the man was aware.

With a slow move of her arm, she reached into her bag and retrieved her journal and glasses. Carefully attaching the frames to her face, she flipped to a blank page of the booklet and with the click of a pen, she began to write.

 _Joey Drew; owner and founder of Joey Drew Studios._  
_He is seemingly the reason this place is in the disrepair it is._  
_Though he has still retained his physical form and has not seemed to age a day in the time the studio was shut down._  
_Either he looks really good for his age..._  
_Or the inhabitants of the studio have obtained some strange life-extending curse._  
_If Mr. Drew can’t seem to escape in the century he’s been trapped here, well…_  
_I can’t help but wonder what that means for Grey and I._  
_It could mean something very_  
_Very_  
_Bad_  
_For both of us._  
_And quite frankly, it’s a mystery I’m scared to find out._

_Hope I don’t have to.  
…_

Click.


End file.
